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What if DreamWorks Pictures/DreamWorks Animation was founded in 1934?/Underdog (franchise)
''Underdog ''is an animated franchise currently owned by DreamWorks. Characters * Underdog '''- An anthropomorphic dog, who is a superhero parody of Superman and similar heroes with secret identities. The premise was that "humble and lovable" Shoeshine Boy, a cartoon dog, was in truth the superhero Underdog. When villains threatened, Shoeshine Boy ducked into a telephone booth where he transformed into the caped and costumed hero, destroying the booth in the process when his superpowers were activated. In the live action film, he appeared as a beagle who became Jack Unger's pet. In 2008, he appeared in a Super Bowl advertisement for Coca-Cola. Underdog is voiced by Wally Cox in the television cartoon. In the film adaptation, he is voiced by Jason Lee and portrayed onscreen by a lemon beagle named Leo sporting a red sweater and a blue cape. Allies * '''Sweet Polly Purebred * Dan Unger * General Brainley * Jack Unger * O.J. Skweez * Professor Moby Von Ahab * Officer Flim Flanigan Villains * Simon Bar Sinister * Cad Lackey * Riff Raff ** Riff Raff's gang *** Dinah Mite *** Mooch *** Nails the Carpenter *** Needles the Tailor *** Sandy the Safecracker *** Smitty the Blacksmith *** Spinny Wheels *** Witch Doctor Other villains * Batty-Man * Georgie * The Bubblehead Empire * Irving and Ralph * The Magnet Men * The Marbleheads * The Molemen * Overcat * Slippery Eel (a.k.a. The Electric Eel) * Tap Tap the Chiseler * Wicked Witch of Pickyoon * Zorm Reformed villains * The Cloud Men * The Flying Sorcerers Other characters * Helen Patterson Filmography *''Underdog'' (TV series) - a 1964-1973 cartoon TV series. *''Underdog (Film) - A 2007 live-action film adaptation by Disney. In 2005, ''Variety reported that a live-action Underdog motion picture was in development. As announced, the story introduces "a diminutive hound named Shoeshine who gets superpowers after a lab accident. When he's adopted by a 12-year-old boy, the two form a bond around the shared knowledge that Shoeshine is really Underdog." Actor Peter Dinklage was cast to play Simon Bar Sinister, while Alex Neuberger was cast to play Underdog's human companion, Jack Unger. The movie started filming in Providence, Rhode Island, in March 2006 and was released on August 3, 2007. The film was distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Shoeshine/Underdog, voiced by Jason Lee, was played by a lemon beagle named Leo sporting a red sweater and a blue cape. The film got mostly negative reviews, despite grossing $65.3 million worldwide. Other media Books and comics *Underdog has also appeared in one Little Golden Book, Underdog and the Disappearing Ice Cream in 1975. *Charlton Comics produced a comic book that ran 10 issues from July 1970 to January 1972. *Gold Key Comics produced a comic book that ran 23 issues from March 1975 to February 1979. *Spotlight Comics did three issues in 1987. *Harvey Comics did a one-shot in 1993, and a five-issue series from November 1993 to July 1994. *American Mythology Comics began a new ongoing series in 2017. Radio In 1999, Biggers created a new episode of Underdog as a half-hour radio show narrated by veteran Boston newsman Tom Ellis with new original music composed by Biggers. Radio stations were asked to participate in Biggers' Victory Over Violence organization by airing the adventure in which the evil Simon Bar Sinister develops a Switchpitch baseball to turn positive people negative. His attempt to become king of Boston is foiled by Underdog (played by Biggers) and Sweet Polly Purebred (portrayed by Nancy Purbeck). Theme song The show is also remembered for its title song, "Underdog," which was arranged and produced by Robert Weitz, with lyrics by Chester Stover, W. Watts Biggers, Treadwell Covington, and Joseph Harris.[4] Several notable covers of the theme song have been made. The original song was sung by Robert Ragaini. "As a struggling singer in New York, I'd gotten a job singing a theme song for a newly proposed TV cartoon series named 'Underdog." I went to the studio, I think "O.D.O." on West 54th Street, sang as part of the backup group (ah-ooo, ah-ooo), then quickly sang the theme song over the track and left. I remember how pleased I was that I'd taken that mouthful of words and made them understandable. Oh yes, they paid me 50 dollars. No contract - I wasn't yet a member of SAG - and I was thrilled to get it. Until I heard it again, year after year. By then I'd become a successful jingle singer and I knew what I should have been making. When it came out as the music track of a Reebok commercial I filed a claim with the Screen Actors Guild, but of course I had no documentation. A friend did give me an Underdog T-shirt. I wore it once, but when a man I passed on West 14th Street started singing the song, I retired it. --> *The Butthole Surfers released a version included on the 1995 tribute album Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits, produced by Ralph Sall for MCA Records.[5] *Ted Kooshian's Standard Orbit Quartet included the song on their 2009 CD Underdog, And Other Stories... . *An extended a cappella version was done by The Blanks on the TV program Scrubs during the episode titled "My Hero". They later recorded it on their 2004 album Riding the Wave. *The hip-hop music producer and members of the Wu-Tang Clan the RZA sampled "Underdog" theme in their 1993 song titled "Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuttin To F' Wit". This song was released in Wu-Tang debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). *The Underdog theme was used in a commercial for Reebok ZQuick shoes in 2014. See also *